


Sofa-king Fit

by elanev91



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Always lots of swearing, But I don't care, F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, London, Sirius Black & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Sirius is shamelessly posh, Smut, just some hinted at Wolfstar, lots of swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 06:32:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10938951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elanev91/pseuds/elanev91
Summary: Two new people move in across the hall and Lily gets locked out.Based on the "oops we have to share a bed" trope.





	Sofa-king Fit

**Author's Note:**

> I have here a one-shot based on the following prompt and brought to you by the lovely levins and petalstofish of Tumblr fame. If you find yourself enjoying the nonsense about to unfold, be sure to thank them for peer-pressuring me into writing this (I'm also very easy to peer-pressure, so if you have something you want me to try my hand at, just message me like, "I bet you won't write Jily doing THIS" - I'll do it #toogryffindortofunction)
> 
> Also, eek, smut happened (so, like, NSFW or whatever). But you're not surprised, are you?
> 
> Also, I'm sorry about the title (no I'm not)
> 
> PROMPT: the "this is your house I'm not making you sleep on the couch" "yeah but you're the guest you take the bed" conversation between ur otp right before they share the bed

When Lily and Marlene first moved into the Clapham flat, their neighbours were the people who owned the little bookshop downstairs. Well, more accurately, the neighbour was the owners' daughter - Lily had never liked the girl much, she was a bit too pretentious for Lily's taste, so Lily'd never bothered to find out her whole story, couldn't find it within herself to care. All she knew is that when this girl, whatever her name was, graduated from uni and left London, and England altogether if Mrs Jones (her landlady and owner of the coffee shop Lily and Marlene lived above) was telling the story correctly, the bookshop owners would need to find a new tenant, and she sincerely hoped that she would like the people that moved in. This stretch of London was not one that people left easily and, if Mrs Jones had it right, people tended to stay for years once they'd found this place. And Lily was inclined to agree - their little flat was a decent size for this part of London, overlooked Clapham Commons, and always, _always_ smelled like coffee and baked goods and fucking _heaven_ , and Lily couldn't think of a single reason that she would ever leave this place.

That is, until the new neighbours moved in.

She and Marlene had been off for the early May bank holiday, her feet kicked up onto the table in their sitting room while Marlene put the kettle on. They'd both been killing themselves at work trying to get the new layout together for the May issue, and, now that it was on stands in WH Smith's everywhere, they decided they were going to use their holiday to watch every series of Luther (again) and drink tea until their hearts exploded. Lily had even gone downstairs and let Mrs Jones talk her into taking a whole bag of cakes back up to their flat, cakes she was now moaning and groaning over while setting them out onto a plate.

"Mar," Lily shouted, looking at the plate full of cakes in her lap, "hurry up, I want to start eating these!"

"So eat them already, you prat."

Lily groaned, "I can't start without you, it isn't fair!"

Lily could feel Marlene rolling her eyes all the way in the kitchen, but Lily didn't even remotely care. There was a Victoria sponge calling her damn name and she needed it right now.

Marlene had just walked back into the sitting room, tray of tea things in hand, when they heard a loud bang out in the corridor. Marlene jumped, but, miraculously, managed to keep the tray steady. She was glad because, aside from the annoyance that would come from picking up a bunch of glass from their floor, the last thing Lily felt like doing on their bloody bank holiday was having to spend the day in the A&E with a fucking burn. Lily set the plate down onto the table, barely heard Marlene's admonishing, "Lily, what are you - " before she flung the door open.

There was a giant sofa, the largest sofa Lily had literally ever seen, in the centre of the corridor that blocked Lily's path out of her flat. There didn't seem to be anyone around, but she said "Excuse me," anyway, hoping someone would materialise and explain what the _fuck_ a sofa was doing in the middle of the corridor. Her hand was on her hip now, one foot tapping impatiently against the hardwood, and Lily was sure she looked like quite the vision, standing there like that. A head, a bloke's head, a bloody _handsome_ bloke's head, popped out from behind the sofa. "Sorry, we're uh - " he broke off, hastily adjusted his glasses before he stuffed his hand into his hair, his chaotic black hair, and Lily almost felt her rage soften, seeing how embarrassed he was. She was just about to reply, probably say something like "It's alright, just stop fucking banging around out here, we're trying to watch a murder programme thank you" when another bloke appeared from just down the corridor. He was tall and broad shouldered, long, wavy black hair flowing behind him while he walked, _strutted_ , down the corridor towards her, and Lily was irritated and intrigued by him in equal measure. The new man held out his hand, "Sirius Black, nice to meet you, love. We're your new neighbours." He had the poshest accent Lily had ever heard in real life.

She raised an eyebrow, but shook his hand over the back of the sofa still crammed between their flat doors, "Lily Evans," before dropping it and staring back at the sofa. "Are you two planning on moving that into your flat or?" She raised an eyebrow at the man who hadn't introduced himself and he just flushed a bit, stuffed his hand in his hair, so she looked back at 'Sirius' - he smiled an absolutely wolfish grin at her, "We were thinking about just leaving it here. Would that be a problem?"

Lily rolled her eyes, but while she would have snapped at anyone else, there was something about this man that just made her want to laugh. It was disarming and unexpected and she didn't like it. She shot the man behind the sofa a look, "You probably should have measured before you bought this thing."

The man cleared his throat, "We did." Lily laughed, "Not well, obviously."

The man shot her a look, "I think I know how to measure a door frame." Lily snorted, "The evidence proves otherwise."

Sirius just stood there, looking between the two of them, stupid smile on his face growing impossibly larger as he listened to them bicker about a door frame. _A fucking door frame of all things._

"The evidence, Evans," the man said, "isn't complete yet. We're still in phase one."

Lily raised an eyebrow, "Phase one?"

He nodded, "We just have to angle it correctly, to get it through the door. I'm still working out how to best - "

"Our James here is an architect," Sirius said, nodding at Lily. Lily saw 'James' shoot Sirius a look that she couldn't interpret, but Lily just shrugged, "An architect that doesn't know how to measure a bloody door frame."

"I know how to measure a door frame!" He looked incensed but Lily just laughed, "Clearly. Now keep it down, we're watching Luther and if you keep banging around out here, my housemate and I might start getting ideas."

She turned back into her flat, pulled the door closed behind her, but she didn't miss the loud, echoing laughter in the corridor that Lily was sure came from that Sirius Black.

She eventually learned that the sofa bloke's full name was James Potter and that he worked for one of the most prestigious architectural firms in London. While James had, finally, managed to work the sofa through the door of their flat, it didn't stop Lily from teasing him about it incessantly whenever they met in the corridor.

She wasn't quite sure what Sirius did because he always seemed to be home, and Lily guessed (correctly, it turned out) that he was just independently wealthy. She'd asked him about this one afternoon when she'd nipped back home over her lunch hour to grab one of the concept boards she'd left in her room, and found him sitting outside Mrs Jones' place. He'd just smiled roguishly, told her that he couldn't possibly be expected to hold down a job, "The life of an aristocrat, Red. All very trying." He then took another sip of his tea, holding the cup daintily in his long fingers and Lily almost smacked it out of his hand just to stop him playing it up. She'd never thought that she'd be the type of person to like a man like Sirius, but the more she talked with him, the more she found herself liking him. He was incredibly annoying, exceedingly posh, and loud as fuck, but he was also hilarious, sarcastic, and no nonsense in a way that Lily appreciated.

While she'd come, somehow, to like Sirius, Lily and James never quite seemed to get on. They said hi to each other in the corridors or whenever they met at the postbox (though these encounters often started with gritted teeth and ended with shouted swears), but she didn't stop to talk to him when she saw him out in the world, didn't get his mobile number, both of which she'd done with Sirius the first week that she met him. She and James just always seemed to be sniping at each other, always bickering about some fucking thing or another, and it never took that much to even get them to the point where they were shouting at each other.

There was just something about James that really irritated her, something in the way that he carried himself, the way that he talked. James was loud, his carrying laugh echoing out of his flat at all hours, he was cocky and arrogant, especially lately when he'd started smirking at her like he knew some fucking secret, and could never just let anything alone. He always had to fucking argue with her, always had to have the last word, and it drove her SO FAR round the twist that she could barely stand it. She wasn't sure why James bothered her so much because, as Marlene had pointed out on more than one occasion, James and Sirius were actually a lot alike, and it didn't make sense that she loved Sirius and absolutely despised James. "It's just something _about_ him," Lily had said and Marlene had just rolled her eyes, murmured, "Or you're just in fucking denial."

Lily had given her the finger, but it didn't escape her that both Sirius _and_ Marlene, Marlene who knew her better than anyone else in the world, thought that she was just attracted to James. And, sure, he was fit, anyone with eyes could see that, but _fit_ didn't make up for his personality.

He was always doing little things that irritated her, like pulling to door shut to their flat _way_ too loudly when he got home late or shooting those cheeky winks at her whenever he passed her in the corridor leaving for work, and she was almost always texting Sirius furiously about his 'absolute fucking wankstain of a housemate'. Sirius usually just ignored her, but one night a few months after they'd moved in, he'd forwarded one of her texts to James in, Lily was seeing _red_ as soon as she realised, a bloody group chat between the three of them.

 _Sirius Black:_ fwd: SIRIUS, I DON'T APPRECIATE YOUR FUCKING TOSSPOT OF A HOUSEMATE THAT DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THAT SOME PEOPLE LIKE TO GET SLEEP AND SOME PEOPLE'S ROOMS ARE RIGHT NEXT TO THE FUCKING HALLWAY.

 _Sirius Black:_ Tosspot Potter, please address these grievances so that Evans will leave me alone. If I don't get my beauty sleep, Remus might leave me

 _Lily Evans:_ SIRIUS, WHAT THE FUCK

 _Lily Evans:_ WHY DID YOU FORWARD THIS TEXT INTO A GROUP CHAT

 _James Potter:_ I think that was pretty clear? Aren't you the writer here, Evans? Aren't you supposed to know how to read and shit?

 _Lily Evans:_ Potter, I swear to fucking god

 _Sirius Black:_ Can you two please just fuck already? You're exhausting.

 _Lily Evans:_ WE ARE NOT GOING TO FUCK, BLACK

 _Sirius Black:_ You should, you'd save the rest of us a fuck lot of trouble

Unfortunately for Sirius, they neither fucked nor fixed their problems.

They had, though, managed to tame themselves a bit, largely because Marlene had threatened to kill her in her sleep if she didn't stop whinging about James. It was a particularly hot August day and Marlene had been in no fucking mood - she glared daggers at Lily and hissed, "If you and James don't stop with all this fucking shouting, _I will fucking kill you both._ I know exactly what I'd do with your bodies, Evans, don't test me." Even the way she'd say 'Evans' reminded Lily of Potter, even _that_ set her teeth on edge, but Lily had nodded, sighed, admitted defeat. _We're neighbours. We should at least be fucking civil. And Marlene doesn't fuck around, so -_

So she was civil. Most of the time. But, hey, no one's perfect and Potter is right fucking annoying sometimes.

So it had gone until January when everything started falling to shit. She had had a _fucking day -_ Hestia had been riding her arse about the new political piece she was working on, the Tube had been an actual fucking disaster, it was freezing fucking cold outside, she was going to kill the next person that said 'new year, new me!', and, to top it all, she'd gotten all the way home before she realised that her keys were missing.

"Fuck, you've got to be fucking joking!"

Lily searched her trouser pockets, her bag, her jacket pockets, every bloody spot on herself where she could have possibly put her keys, but she knew it was no good. She'd either left them back in the office (the door of which was now locked) or she'd dropped them in the Tube somewhere and they were currently rocketing around London. She was _pretty_ sure, now that she thought back on it, that she'd just left them on her desk, but of course she chose _this fucking week_ to lock herself out. Marlene was up in Birmingham visiting her family, and there was no way in hell Lily was going to scale the back wall of her building or something to break in. _You dumb fucking berk, honestly._ She swore again, loudly and fluently, and a woman nearby turned to stare before walking quickly down the sidewalk.

Lily walked across the street, sat down on the wall surrounding the pond in the Commons, pulled out her mobile - _Sirius, can you come let me in? I left my keys at work and I can't get them until tomorrow._

Sirius texted her back almost immediately - _Sorry Red. Text James, I'm out right with Remus right now ;) xx_

Lily groaned, stuffed her mobile in her pocket, turned and laid down on the cement wall. Her mother was surely screaming at her from beyond the grave right now about how 'people urinate on those things, Lily!' but she couldn't summon a single fuck. Sleeping out here on a urine covered cement wall might even be preferable to texting fucking Potter and begging to be let in. Sirius would be back eventually, right? Surely she could wait a few hours. I mean, they'd been getting along better lately, but that was largely an act for Marlene, right? And anyway, she didn't want their first solo interaction to be her begging him for something.

She laid there for a few minutes before the cold made her realise just how stupid that plan was, and, gritting her teeth, she pulled her mobile back out of her pocket. _Hey Potter -_ "Fuck, I should probably be nicer," she deleted it, started again, _Hey James, so, I'm locked out and Sirius said I should text you to see if you could let me in?_

He read her message almost immediately after it was sent and Lily watched the screen nervously, corner of her lip in her mouth. The little ellipsis bubble appeared a few times, sometimes floating there for thirty seconds or so, before it disappeared. Finally, about five minutes after she'd originally texted him, he replied - _Sure. Down in a sec x_

She assumed the kiss on the end of his message was just a formality, something that he did when he ended most of his messages, and decided to think nothing of it.

She walked back across the street, shuffled her feet nervously while she waited for James to come down the stairs. After a few minutes, he opened the door, his hair standing straight up on top of his head. He had his hand in his hair, as bloody always - it made his t shirt ride up and she noticed how low his black tracksuit bottoms were on his hips. She felt her breath catch, her stomach started to feel all fluttery and she groaned internally. _What the fuck is_ _this_ _feeling?_

She swallowed, cleared her throat, "Thanks, P-James."

James smirked, his nervousness apparently drowned out by whatever amusement he was getting from this situation, "Since when is it James, Evans?" Lily rolled her eyes, walked past him and into the building, "Since I thought being nice would get you to let me into the building, Potter."

James snorted and began climbing the stairs behind her, "Maybe I should just put you back outside then. I'm only nice when I know someone genuinely appreciates it."

"I'm surprised you're ever nice to me, then," Lily said, glancing briefly over her shoulder at him, "I almost never appreciate anything you do."

"Almost?" James sounded amused again and Lily wanted to smack herself. She recovered quickly, shrugged, "Just being generous." She looked over her shoulder and caught James' eye again, but he didn't look convinced. If anything, his smile was smugger than ever, and there was a brief moment where she contemplated pushing him down the stairs.

When they got up to the second floor, Lily froze - " _Fuck._ "

James walked over and unlocked the door to his flat, "What, Evans?"

"I…" she trailed off, looked at her feet, seriously considered aiming a kick at the wall (and would have if she didn't like these heels so much), "I don't know why I thought I was going to be able to get into my flat."

"And you're always saying _I'm_ the stupid one," James said, laughing. Lily shot him a glare, "I guess sleeping in the corridor isn't as bad as sleeping outside on that urine wall."

James cocked an eyebrow, "Urine wall? Just come in. I'll make dinner and you can sleep here."

Lily shook her head, "No, I couldn't I - "

James held up a hand, "Evans, you literally have nowhere else to go unless you're going to pay for a hotel room." Lily looked like she might be considering it, but James rolled his eyes, grabbed her hand, and dragged her into his flat, shut the door behind them.

She'd only been inside their flat a few times, usually when she and Marlene came over to watch telly with Sirius when James was working late. She'd never been in the flat with James at all, now that she thought about it, not for more than a few minutes, anyway. And now she was here, alone with him, Sirius wasn't going to be home for hours and she has literally nowhere else to go. She moved her handbag between her hands nervously, trying to get some of the energy out.

"You really don't have to feed me, I should be feeding you. I can get takeaway or something? Curry? Chinese? Pizza?" She was rambling. _Why the fuck am I rambling?!_

James just smiled at her, opened the cupboard and took out a hanger, "It's alright, Evans. I already have stuff out to make dinner."

"But - " James held out his hand and Lily stared at it for a moment, unsure as to what he wanted. He smirked, "Your coat."

Lily flushed, "Shit, right, thanks." She dropped her bag at her feet, slid her arms out of her coat, and handed it to James. He hung her coat up in the cupboard beside his ( _why the fuck do I know which jacket is his?!_ ) and smiled at her, "You can put your shoes and bag wherever, by the way."

Lily shrugged, "Wherever is out of the way." She tried to sound nonchalant, but she knew she'd failed miserably based on the way James was looking at her. "Like I said," James said, grinning, "anywhere is fine."

James toed off his trainers, kicked them into the cupboard, and wandered off into the kitchen. Lily hesitated for a moment before she picked her feet up one at a time, slid her shoes off, and set them underneath the table beside the sofa with her bag. She wasn't sure what else to do, so she followed James into the kitchen.

She wanted to help, but James was getting a whole bunch of shit out and she wasn't sure he'd heard her come in over all the clattering. She sat down on one of the stools at the breakfast bar and watched while he dipped into various cabinets and stuck stuff up onto the countertop, trying to avoid admiring the way his shirt stretched across his shoulders as he moved. He pulled a stand mixer out from one cupboard and Lily gasped, "YOU HAVE ONE OF THESE?!"

James jumped a little and she saw his grip tighten in the mixer so he wouldn't drop it. She flushed, "Shit, sorry, I've just always wanted one of these." James set the mixer onto the counter, plugged the cord in behind the electric kettle, "No worries, just try not to scare the fuck out of me once I get the grinder on here, yeah?"

"THE GRINDER?!" She was thoroughly impressed by the fact that he had the fucking attachments, too, but she opted to tease him instead, "Going to kill me and dispose of my body, Potter?"

James laughed, "I'm not trying to ruin my favourite piece of kitchen equipment, Evans."

James started pulling food from all over the kitchen, potatoes, carrots, a packet of frozen peas, some meat he must have gotten from the grocer underneath their building, and Lily smirked at him as he lined it all up alongside the bowls, peelers, chopping boards, and knives he'd gotten out earlier.

"Two things," she said, leaning over the countertop, "first, I never would have guessed you were the obsessive type, and, - "

James straightened up and smiled skeptically at her, "You never thought an _architect_ might like having things in order before beginning work?"

Lily laughed, "Well, an architect might, but not you."

James raised an eyebrow, "But I'm an architect?"

"No, I know," Lily said, "But you're different."

"Am I?" He was smiling at her in a way that she found very unsettling. She decided to change tack, hopped to her feet and walked around the counter top, "Back to my second question - what can I help with?"

James smiled at her change in subject but didn't say anything. He handed her a peeler, "Here, peel these for me," and nodded at the potatoes.

"What are we making?" Lily tipped the potatoes into the sink and started scrubbing them. "Shepherd's pie." James was clanging around behind her and she shut off the water, turned to look at him.

"That's quite a meal," she raised an eyebrow and he laughed, "I'm not making it just because you're here. I like making a nice pie when it's this bloody cold out."

Lily hummed skeptically and James just tossed a frozen pea at her head. "Oi," she laughed and James just waved his hand dismissively at her, "Get to peeling, Evans."

They worked easily in the kitchen together, Lily noticed - she peeled, he chopped, and the conversation (and laughter) flowed easily between them. It had never, in all her time knowing him, been like this before, and Lily didn't know if it was the fact that they were trapped together and, thus, putting on less aggressive fronts, or if James had always been this easy to talk to and she'd just never noticed.

She wasn't sure which option she preferred.

When they'd finally gotten the pie in the oven, James walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a bottle of wine. "Claret alright?" Lily shrugged, sat back down in one of the stools at the breakfast bar, "I don't know anything about wine. I know I like red and that's about it."

James chuckled, pulled two glasses from the cupboard over of the cooktop, "I only know what mum taught me, so it's not like I'm some expert."

James poured them both a healthy glass, walked around, and sat down in the stool next to her. James swirled his wine glass a bit and Lily snorted before she took a hearty draught. James looked at her over the rim of his glass, "What," and he took a drink. Lily shook her head, "I thought you were going to do the whole," she mimed what she imagined to be a very posh wine drinker's routine, complete with sniffing and holding the glass up to the light.

James elbowed her lightly in the ribs, "Sod off, Evans, I'm not a complete knob."

"Complete being the operative word there, Potter." She smiled warmly at him, took another sip of her wine, and he beamed.

They were just starting on the second bottle of wine when the pie came out of the oven. James picked up their glasses in one hand, the bottle of wine in the other, and carried them over to the table in the sitting room. "I thought we could just put the telly on or something?"

Lily raised a saucy eyebrow, "Mr Potter, how very common of you."

James snorted, "I don't know why you think I'm the posh one. You've met Sirius, haven't you?" He walked back into the kitchen and grabbed two plates from the cupboard, handed one to her.

"It just seems like it irritates you when I tease you," Lily said, taking a massive scoop of pie from the dish, "and I think you're funny when you're irritated. Always have."

James served himself an even larger portion and smirked at her as they walked into the sitting room, "Is that why you've always hated me?"

Lily laughed, sat down onto the sofa, balanced her plate on her knee, and reached for her wine, "I don't know why I hated you, honestly. It was always just a feeling," she took a long sip of her wine, "That's what I always told Marlene, anyway."

"Well, if it makes you feel better," James shovelled a ridiculously large bite into his mouth, "I never hated you, Evans."

Lily laughed, set her wine down, "You're so charming, Potter." But then she took a bite, groaned loudly, and James just snorted, "Looks like we're both charmers tonight, Evans."

James clicked the telly on and they flipped through the channels - "We could watch… Emmerdale… EastEnders come on at 730... " Lily turned to look at him, a slow, incredulous smile spreading across her face, "Do you… do you _only_ watch soaps?"

James flushed a bit, "No, I… well, I mean, from time to time."

Lily snorted, "What?! My _mum_ used to watch EastEnders religiously! James!"

James flushed high on his cheeks, took a swig of his wine, "There's nothing wrong with EastEnders." Lily reached out and patted his thigh, a bit higher than she probably should have, but it was done now, "Alright, mate." The laughter in her voice was evident, but she tried her best to say it consolingly.

James kept clicking through the guide and Lily screamed, "OH! MIDSOMER MURDERS COMES ON AT EIGHT! WE HAVE TO WATCH THAT!"

James jumped, nearly upset his plate on his lap, "For fucks sake! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!" Lily didn't even bother to look sorry, "Oh, bugger off, you're fine, CAN WE WATCH THAT AT EIGHT WHEN IT COMES ON?!"

James picked his plate up off his lap and set it onto the table, "Okay, you can't make fun of me about watching EastEnders if _you_ watch Midsomer Murders."

"Midsomer Murders is brilliant, okay - "

James snorted, "BRILLIANT?! Oh, Evans!"

"Fuck off, Potter. We're watching that. Put on whatever you want for now, but if you don't put Midsomer on at eight, I will _cut you."_

James laughed, flipped on Channel 4 News, and dropped the remote onto the table, "I'll put Midsomer on at eight, Evans, don't you worry, love." Lily beamed.

They chatted while they ate the rest of their dinner, finished that second bottle of wine, laughed more than Lily had laughed in a long time. It was weird, laughing like this with _James bloody Potter,_ but it felt… good? Right? Either way, whatever it was that Lily had initially hated about James, whatever it was that had irritated her about him, she couldn't remember what it was now. She didn't know if it was the wine (it wasn't), the fact that she had ended up locked out of her flat (not that either), or what it might be (she had a hunch, and it involved Marlene and Sirius and a fucking Greek chorus of "I told you so"), but Lily was having a great time and was kicking herself for not giving James a chance earlier.

James, as promised, clicked on Midsomer at eight, before he got up, took their dishes into the kitchen and started washing up. Lily turned in her spot on the couch, "Do you want help?" James shook his head, smiled softly at her, "No, that's alright. Watch your show, I'll be back in a mo."

She turned back, curled up on the couch, and pressed a cushion to her chest, trying to steady her rapidly accelerating heartbeat. If she'd seen the way that James was looking at her from the kitchen, her heart might have just exploded in her chest.

James came back into the sitting room after a few minutes, sat closer to her than he'd been sitting before. She saw him look at her out of the corner of her eye and he shifted a bit nervously in his seat, but when she didn't move away, he seemed to settle down. His close proximity, though, was starting to make her a bit twitchy, was making her hands tremble a bit. She stuck the hand closest to James under her thigh so he wouldn't notice that she was apparently falling apart at the seams. She saw him glance at her when she moved, watched his eyes flick over her briefly, but he'd turned back to the tv without saying anything.

She thought she'd gotten away with it, but when the adverts came on, James turned to her, "Am I making you uncomfortable? Becuase i-if I am, I'm sorry, Evans, I - "

 _Fuck._ Lily shook her head, "No, it's not you, Potter, it's - well, it's a bit you, but not how you're thinking."

James knit his eyebrows together and Lily bit back a smile was she watched his glasses slip a bit down his nose, "What - "

Lily sighed, "I'm just having a hit to my pride, is all." It was only a lie in that it wasn't the whole truth.

James studied her for a moment, "What do you mean?"

Lily took a second to sort out her thoughts, cleared her throat, "I'm realising that I might have been wrong about you and I'm feeling a bit like a dick for the way I've treated you."

James chuckled awkwardly, buried a hand in his hair, "It's alright - "

"No," Lily shook her head, "No, it isn't. I know that we both bickered and whatever, and so it's not entirely my fault, but you're… I don't know, you're actually nice, James." _And fit. So fucking fit._

James snorted, "Careful, Evans, you start giving me compliments like that, they might go to my head."

Lily threw a cushion at him, which, annoyingly, he caught, "You berk. Can't you just let me apologise?!"

James grinned, set the cushion down on his other side, "You have nothing to apologise for, Evans." His expression was still light, still casual and easy, but his tone was a bit more serious, had something intense lurking underneath the surface of it. Lily tried to ignore it. She just smiled and said, "Well, alright. But maybe we can… start over or something?"

James turned completely on the couch so that he was facing her, raised an eyebrow, "Start over?" Lily nodded, extended a hand, "Hi, I'm Lily Evans, your new neighbour. I'm sure you're great at measuring door frames."

James snorted, "Hi, I'm James Potter. You were right, I should have measured a few more times." He took her hand, his eyes trained on hers, broad smile creasing his forehead and lighting up his eyes, and the combination of that, the sight of him, and the electricity buzzing through her hand was nearly enough to make her leap across the sofa and do something completely rash.

Instead she dropped her hand, cleared her throat, and turned back to watch Midsomer which had clicked on while she'd been busy staring at his eyes. They were both sitting there watching the programme, but James was closer to her (again) and it felt like something had shifted in the air between them. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it felt heavier, more electric, and, what's more, she liked it. Whatever this tension was between them, it was exciting, made her stomach clench in anticipation, made her feel all jittery in a way she hadn't in _years_ and while she still couldn't quite believe that it was James fucking Potter making her feel this way, if she really thought about it, she shouldn't have been that surprised.

When Midsomer ended at 10, the tension between them seemed to shift - she was now keenly aware that they were going to be going to bed, that they would be in a flat, alone (because where the fuck was Sirius when you needed him?), trying to go to sleep. James pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, ran a hand awkwardly in his hair, stood up and looked at her, "So, I'll take the couch, then?"

Lily stood up too, a bit faster than she would have liked, and the blood rushed to her head, "No, no," she waved him off, "it's your house, I'll sleep out here."

James shook his head, "Evans, come on, I can't let you sleep on the couch."

Lily raised a challenging eyebrow, "Why not? Trying to be all chivalrous, Potter?"

James' hand buried itself in his hair again, "Yes, actually."

She was expecting him to come back at her with a quip, but his earnest reply knocked her off balance, and Lily was quiet for a moment. "I could… sleep in Sirius' room? I'm assuming he isn't coming back?"

James shook his head, "If you took a blacklight in there, it would look like one of those crime show episodes where they're investigating a brothel."

Lily gagged, "Ugh, gross."

James laughed, "Yup. I love him, but he needs to learn to do wash."

They both stood there awkwardly for a moment - Lily largely looked at the floor, though her eyes kept darting up, finding James, and sweeping over him. James' gaze met hers the last time she did this and she felt her heart start hammering in her chest. _I'm fucking doomed._

"Well," James said, he pushed his glasses up his nose again and Lily noticed his fingers were shaking a bit, "if neither of us is sleeping on the couch or in Sirius' room, we could... sleep in my bed?"

He was watching her intently as he spoke, his eyes moving in long, smooth lines over her face, down her body, and she felt a bit uneasy, watching him look at her. It wasn't like he was just checking her out (though it was probably partially that), it was like he was studying her, trying to understand her, to break through the walls she'd built around herself and figure her out a bit. What surprised her more, was that this realisation didn't repel her, didn't make her want to smack him and leave. She didn't like being vulnerable, and yet…

"Uh," Lily ran a hand lightly through her hair, shifted her weight nervously between her feet, "that's alright with me. I-if you're sure, I don't want you suggesting this just because I'm being annoying or whatever." She was rambling again and James smiled softly at her in a way that almost knocked her flat. He shook his head, "I wouldn't have suggested it if it made me uncomfortable, Lily."

Lily sucked in a breath, bit the corner of her lip. She really, _really_ liked the way he said her name.

She cleared her throat, "Alright, that settles it then." James nodded, "Uh, alright, so… what do you need to sleep in? I'm sure you don't want to sleep in that?" He gestured down at her work clothes and Lily sighed, "Yeah, not too keen on that. Do you just have a t shirt or something I could borrow?"

James' Adam's apple bobbed in his throat ( _is he nervous? He can't be as fucking nervous as I am_ ) and nodded, "Uh, yeah, yeah, I've got loads of t shirts. Do you want like… shorts or something or?" Lily shook her head, "No, thanks, I can't sleep with any kind of trousers on. They get all like," she moved her hands in the air around the outside of her legs, "twisted, you know?" James swallowed again, "Right." His voice was a bit higher and he cleared his throat, "Right."

James led her past the kitchen and into the bedroom at the end of the short corridor beyond. He opened the door, flicked on the light and let Lily follow him into the room before he walked over to the chest of drawers along the side wall, pulled out a t shirt from one of the centre drawers, and handed it to her. Lily folded it up in her arms, "Thanks." James just nodded, "Bathroom is on the left. Sirius has a bunch of extra toothbrushes in the bottom cupboard, so you can just grab one of those… and there's a whole bunch of hair and face shit in the cupboard in there. He won't notice, just use whatever you need."

Lily chuckled, "Thanks," walked out of his room and into the bathroom. She pulled the door shut behind her, took a deep breath, looked at herself in the mirror, "You can sleep in a bed with a man, you've done this before." She stripped off her clothes, folded them neatly and piled them on the side of the tub, "Sure, he's really fit, and sure you're mildly attracted to him, and sure, the only time you've ever slept in a man's bed is after you've fucked him first..." Even having all those words in her brain alongside the fact that she was, very shortly, going to be in bed with this fit bastard was too much. "Just keep breathing, you'll be fine." She sincerely hoped James couldn't hear her mumbling to herself.

She took another deep breath and pulled James' shirt over her head - that turned out to be a colossal mistake because _oh my god this shirt smells so fucking good._ She glanced at herself in the mirror - _King's College Cambridge -_ and laughed quietly, shook her head, "Of course he gave me his fucking Cambridge t shirt."

She brushed her teeth with the spare brush, used the loo, rummaged through the cabinets to find something to wash her face with. She felt a bit bad using Sirius' stuff without asking and she could have texted him, but James had said he wouldn't notice and she didn't feel like walking back out to the sitting room to grab her mobile. She spotted a clear bottle with a bright pink lid, "He has micellar water?! Bless him."

Lily wiped off her makeup, gave her face a quick scrub, and brushed through her hair with her fingers. She took one final, deep breath ( _fucking shirt oh my god_ ) and walked back into James' room. He was sitting on one side of the bed in the t shirt he'd been wearing earlier, but his trackies were gone, replaced, instead, by a pair of boxers. _Thank god he isn't wearing trunks or anything tighter, I would actually have just up and fucking died._

James' stood up when she walked in the room, stuffed his hand in his hair, knocking his glasses askew in his haste. His eyes swept quickly over her before they met her gaze and he smiled a bit awkwardly, "T shirt worked out then?"

Lily laughed, nodded, "Nice selection, by the way." James flushed, but her quip seemed to ease whatever tension he was feeling because he came back at her with one of his own, "Can't have you forgetting how brilliant I am, Evans."

She rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. She pointed at the door, "Go brush your teeth, you prat." James laughed, and moved to walk out of the room when Lily noticed the pattern on his boxers. "Why do you have peppers on your boxer shorts?"

James turned to look at her in the doorway, "Because I'm fucking hot, Evans." He winked and Lily snorted, "Oh my god, get out."

James walked out, laughing all the way, and shut the bathroom door. Lily walked over and sat down on the bed, guessing that the side James had been sitting on was the side that he usually slept on. The fact that the bedside table on that side was covered in shit (she saw books, a bottle of paracetamol, a few pens, a bottle of eyeglass cleaner and a cloth on the top part alone, and god knows what he had buried in the drawers) was also something of a give away.

James' bed was surprisingly well made - the duvet was pulled smoothly over the mattress, lined up perfectly with the corners, and the pillows were set up neatly in the centre - despite the chaos of his bedside table. Looking round, she realised that most of James' room was like that, full of little bubbles of chaos in the midst of an otherwise orderly space. His wardrobe was open just a bit and Lily saw the neat order of his work shoes, the crisp lines and folds of his work clothes hanging on the rail, but she also noticed the haphazardly stacked jumpers on the top shelf in a variety of colours that appeared to be in no particular order. He had books stacked on the floor underneath the window, some holding up a few potted plants, and though the books themselves looked like they'd spilled from some other part of the flat and had just happened to end up here, they were stacked so neatly that she was sure James had brought them here on purpose (or, at least, that he'd obsessively straightened them whenever he dropped a new book into this corner). She was sitting on the bed staring at the titles of said books when James walked back in.

"I need to buy a bookshelf," he said, and Lily jumped, "Shit, you scared me."

James chuckled, "Sorry, Evans." He walked over and pulled down the duvet on the other side of the bed and looked pointedly at her. Lily flushed, "Right," and hopped off the bed, pulled her side down as well. Lily climbed into bed, flattening out the pillows behind her and trying to keep from shifting nervously on the sheets. James walked over to the light switch on the wall by the door, "Ready?"

Lily swallowed, "Yup." And the room was plunged into darkness.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but she was thankful that James' room wasn't actually pitch black - the light from the streetlamps outside his windows was bringing in enough light that she could see James moving through the room, could follow the outline of him with her eyes and she felt him getting into bed beside her. She heard him set his glasses onto the bedside table and then the room was completely quiet, except for the sound of their breathing and the constant but low hum of noise from the street outside.

She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly.

He wasn't moving, wasn't looking at her, wasn't saying anything, but it felt like whatever tension they'd been dancing around all night had magnified the moment he'd clicked the lights off, was pressing against her chest and making her fingers tremble with anticipation of things that weren't likely to come. Sure, they'd had a nice night together, and sure, she'd gone home with men for less, but this was… this was James and this was different. She couldn't put her finger on why, exactly, it was different, though, and the longer she lay there, the longer she tried to riddle it out, the more pissed off she became. _I didn't spend all this time hating him just to want to fuck him a few months later._ But it wasn't just wanting to fuck him, not really. Maybe that's what it had been at first (Marlene and Sirius could never, ever know) but she…

He was funny and smart and a brilliant cook and he watched EastEnders for fuck's sake, had sat with her and watched Midsomer Murders, shouted at the screen with her, tried to invent wilder and wilder twists as the show went on, and he was just genuinely fun to be around. He made her feel comfortable, but also uneasy in that exciting, new-person kind of way, when you get that huge knot in the pit of your stomach when you look at them, when you feel like a whole cage of butterflies has been set loose inside your body and your skin tingles everywhere and you just want to touch them and be touched and know what every single piece of them feels like under your hands -

"Lily?"

James had rolled onto his side, was looking at her intently in the darkness, but she'd been too deep inside her own head to notice. A million things floated through her brain, none of them adequate, and so she decided to take a risk (because what's life without a bit of risk?) - she rolled onto her side, leaned across the bed and brushed her lips lightly against his. James didn't move and Lily pulled back, felt her cheeks burst into flame, "Sor - " but before she'd gotten the word out, James' hand was in her hair and his mouth was on hers.

If she was doomed before, she was completely and totally doomed now. His kiss was intense and intoxicating and so _fucking_ sexy, but his lips were also playful against hers, nipping at her mouth, quirking up into a smile when she wound her fingers into his hair, sucking in a breath like he _might_ kiss her again before pulling back just a bit, and making her groan in frustration and press him closer to her, pull his mouth back to hers. He was infuriating and she shouldn't have been surprised (it _was_ James, after all), but he was also making her whole body come alive, making her desperate for more of him, to feel his skin against hers.

She moved her hand from his hair, grabbed the front of his t shirt and pulled, falling backward onto the bed so that he would roll on top of her. She had a few seconds of his whole body weight on hers, those few moments of surprise before he thought to pick most of his weight up onto his elbows, and the way that his body fit against hers had nearly killed her. He'd settled easily between her thighs, his hips pressing against hers, and she'd felt how hard he was, already, as his body pressed hers into the mattress. She normally hated being underneath men, had to be the one on top, had to maintain some kind of control, but the way that James was pressing against her now… she felt like she was surrounded by him, like he was everywhere, and she was surprised to find that she loved it.

She hitched one of her legs out from underneath them, hooked it around his hips and pressed him harder against her and James groaned against her lips, "Fuck, Lily." The way he said her name _just_ \- and she lifted her hips, pressed against him, grinned when he moaned again. She slid her hands from his chest to the hem of his shirt, slid it as far up his chest as she could, trailing her fingers along his skin as she went. He pulled back, whipped the shirt off his head and into a corner, before he grabbed the hem of her shirt. She thought he was going to tug it up over her head, but he sat on his heels, tips of his fingers tracing along the hem where her shirt had ridden up, moving his eyes slowly over her and setting fires on her skin.

"James," her voice was needier than she would have liked and his eyes snapped to hers, his lips broke into a glorious smile, and that sight alone nearly caused her to come undone. He leaned forward a bit, put his right hand on her hip, just underneath the hem of her shirt, settled his weight back between her thighs. His spread his fingers out across her skin and slid his hand slowly up her side, bringing the shirt up her stomach as he leaned forward again, pressed his lips lightly against hers. She was restless now, the cold air hitting her stomach and the heat in her skin was driving her mad, and James was _so close_ but he wasn't close enough. She kept trying to deepen the kiss, but James would just smile against her lips, skim his hand a bit further up her side, pull back a bit to keep her from getting too carried away. James moved his mouth to her jaw, Lily groaned in frustration, " _James._ " He just smiled, moved his lips to her neck, slid his hand a bit further up her shirt and brushed his thumb along the underside of her breast. She moaned, " _Fuck,_ " arched against him, and he smiled against her neck, pressed his teeth into her skin.

"We're getting there, Evans."

His voice was low and rough and practically vibrated through her skin, and she was sure her damn knickers would be soaked through by the time he got around to them at this rate. He brushed his thumb against her breast again, and Lily barely kept herself from shouting at him to _just get the fuck on with it already!_ and she probably would have if she didn't really, really want to see what he had in store. He didn't move his hand, but he pulled back a bit, studied her face, and something in his tenor had shifted, become just a bit more serious. "What?" Her voice was breathy and a bit impatient, but she could see that he was thinking something over.

His forehead creased a little, and she reached up with her free hand, tangled her fingers into his hair, "We don't have to - "

James shook his head, "No, I want to," and he pressed his hips against hers again to prove that point and Lily grinned. "It's just…" he trailed off and she was about to reply when he continued, "I… I really like you, Lily. I have for a long time, even when you hated me, I've just always liked you and so I wanted you to know that this," he nodded between them, brushed his thumb against her breast again (Lily barely bit back a moan), "this means more to me than it probably means to you and I wanted you to know that so that if you… if you're not okay with that, then we can just… before we get too far…"

She couldn't tell, but she was sure that James was blushing furiously as he stumbled through this pseudo-confession. He fell silent after he trailed off, apparently waiting for her to say something. She brushed her fingers through his hair (it was unbelievably soft), and smiled at him, "I… I obviously haven't always liked you, but I... " she'd thought she had a plan when she opened her mouth, but that was all apparently going to shit. She took a moment to gather her thoughts before she spoke again, "I'm still figuring out all the details if I'm honest, but… but I know that I like you, uh, kind of a lot, so… uhm… you're not alone in the 'this meaning something' thing."

It was hardly a declaration of love, but James smiled like she'd just shouted her devotion to him from the rooftops. He sat up, pulled her shirt over her head, tossed it onto the floor, and leaned down, pressed his bare chest against hers and kissed her again. The tenor had completely shifted and his mouth was eager against hers now, and though they fumbled out a sync a few times, they'd just laughed, carried on. Their hands were everywhere, his back, her breasts, his hair, the waistband of her knickers, down his boxers. When Lily wrapped her hand around him, James gasped, moaned into her mouth, and she laughed as he sat up and kicked his shorts off as quickly as he could manage without standing up. She reached out to take him in her hand again and he just smirked, shook his head, "Not yet, Evans," and moved his hands to her thighs.

He kept his eyes locked on hers and he wrapped his fingers around the waistband of her knickers and pulled them slowly down her legs. Her heart was hammering in her chest, her breathing was quick and shallow, and he knew, he had to know, that he was doing this to her, that he was making her come apart at the seams. The fact that he was doing it without so much as touching her, just a thumb against her breast, his mouth on hers, his eyes moving over her, it set her pulse racing through her veins because it could only get better.

He dropped her knickers onto the floor, scooted back on the bed, and slowly lowered himself back down onto the mattress, dropping kisses on the side of her knees, the inside of her thighs. Every touch of his mouth against her skin made her pull in a sharp breath and she felt him breathe a laugh against her as he settled himself between her thighs. He looked back up at her, raised a challenging eyebrow, and Lily swallowed, "Waiting for an invitation?" She sounded desperate and James chuckled, "Maybe," his hot breath blowing over her, making her arch a bit. "Fuck, James, you're - _please_ ," she felt him smiling as he pressed another kiss to the inside of her thigh but, mercifully, he relented and Lily was sure, fairly sure, she'd died.

He seemed to know _exactly_ what he was doing, and he clearly listened. When he flicked his tongue against her clit and she moaned loudly, arched into him, he went back and did it again and again, shifting pressure or movement or other small pieces to keep it varied, to get her writhing beneath him. She felt him trace his fingers against her and he groaned, the vibration of his lips against her made her moan and she pressed her head back into the pillow, buried one hand in his hair. He dipped one, two fingers inside her and she lifted her hips, " _Fuck_ ," and James wrapped his other hand around her hip, pressed her back down into the mattress. He moved his fingers slowly at first, but he gradually picked up speed, and when he curled them inside her and brought her clit between his lips, she completely fell apart. She moaned as she clenched down on his hand, and James groaned against her as he slowed his movements, letting her come down gently.

He planted a kiss on the side of her thigh, lifted himself up onto his hands and dropped kisses across her stomach, her chest, taking one of her nipples in his mouth for a moment, before she grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him up to her, kissed him. She wrapped one leg around his waist, pressed him hard against her, and ground her hips against him. He moaned and she pulled back, "If you don't get a condom right now, I swear to god, Potter -"

James chuckled, "I always love to get mild death threats while having sex," but he leaned over, opened the drawer on his bedside cabinet and pulled out a small foil packet.

He ripped the packet open, tossed the rubbish onto the bedside table, and rolled the condom on before he settled himself back between her thighs. Lily hitched one of her legs round his waist and pulled him close, and he laughed, "One second, Evans, I gotta get it lined up." She huffed, "We're not playing fucking darts, Potter, come -" but he'd pressed into her then and her retort died on her lips, became a loud groan and he smirked as he leaned forward and kissed her, "What were you saying, love?"

He thrust back into her and she forced out a breath, "Fuck off." He laughed, shook his head, kissed her, "You're never going to stop fighting with me are you?" He changed the angle, kissed her neck and she moaned, pressed her fingers into his back, wrapped her other leg around his waist, "Never."

He laughed into her neck, thrust into her again, a bit harder than before, shifted the angle slightly, and she immediately started trembling under him, groaned, "Fuck, yes, that again." And holy fuck was James good at taking direction.

He moderated his pace until he found one she liked, pressed his thumb against her clit, and smiled against her neck as he began winding her up again. "Think you're funny, Potter?" She'd tried to sound intimidating, but it came out more like a moan than anything else and James just pressed his teeth into her neck, making her arch her back. He pulled back to look at her, "No, I just like making you come, Evans."

 _Fuck._ He swirled his thumb against her clit, and she knew she was on the edge again, "Fuck." He picked up speed a bit and she guessed he was close, because his fingers became a bit more insistent, pressed a bit harder against her, and she wound one hand in his hair, brought another to her breast, "Are you?" He nodded, leaned down and kissed her again, pulled her bottom lip between his teeth. He thrust back into her and hit something fucking _brilliant,_ and she moaned, "fuckinghellrightthereplease." He pushed into her again, harder, hit the same spot - a few more strokes, a couple more brushes against her clit, and she fell apart again. As soon as he felt her clench down around him, he groaned, let his head fall forward onto her shoulder. She moved her hips against him, buried her fingers into his hair, kissed his neck, and after a moment, he stilled, let his weight fall down onto her.

James laid on top of her for a minute, both of them catching their breath, before he leaned back, beamed at her, pushed himself up off the bed and walked to the bathroom. Lily took a moment to lie there, let her breathing even out. _I've just had sex with James Potter. Like, really great, best I've ever had sex._

She couldn't articulate, yet, how she felt about that. All she knew was that if she went into this thinking she might like him, now she was sure she did. The sex, obviously, had quite a lot to do with that (because _damn_ ), but they'd also just _clicked_ in a way she hadn't expected. He seemed to know what she wanted without her having to ask, he was cheeky and didn't take any of her shit, he made sure that she was _erhm_ taken care of instead of literally jackhammering one off in her before rolling over and passing out like they usually did. She snorted quietly, rolled onto her side facing James' side of the bed.

He walked back in a moment later, fell back into bed beside her, and pulled her immediately into his arms. She sighed contentedly, kissed the underside of his jaw, pressed her nose against his neck. "Is this alright," he was trailing his fingers up and down her side, his other hand was playing with the ends of her hair, and she nodded, "Mhmm, it's nice." Her words were muffled against his neck, but he seemed to hear her.

They laid there quietly for a moment, his hands running lightly over her skin, her nose in his neck, before he spoke again, "I like you even more now, Evans." He sounded a bit vulnerable again, a bit nervous, like he wasn't sure how she'd respond. She pressed a kiss to his neck, "I like you even more now, too, Potter."

He hummed and was quiet. She nuzzled her nose against his neck, "Hey, James?"

He turned his head to look at her and she smiled. He beamed in response, "Yes, Lily?"

She quirked an eyebrow, "Will you go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?"

James pretended to think for a moment, and Lily scoffed. James held up a finger, pulled his lip into his mouth in concentration. "Yeah," he said, and he sounded elated even though he was trying so desperately to be casual, "I suppose I could grace you with my presence."

She snorted, smacked his chest, "You're such a knob!" He grabbed her hand, held it against his heart, and kissed her again, "I know."

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://elanev91.tumblr.com/)?


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